MSP calls for self-service alcohol sales ban

Shoppers should no longer be allowed to purchase alcohol at self-service supermarket tills, an MSP has claimed.

The SNP's Stewart Maxwell has called for a ban on sales of alcohol at self-service tills, after an under-age customer was sold alcohol by an under-age sales assistant during a police sting in Glasgow.

Mr Maxwell pointed out that the Licensing Act 2005 - which bans the unlicensed sale of alcohol - was drafted before the introduction of the tills.

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He believes that supervisors may struggle to keep an eye on customers' ages at busy times.

The MSP said: 'When you have one person supervising sometimes eight or more tills it is ridiculous to expect them to be taking the same amount of care and attention over a person's age as they would on an individual till.

'With the increasing use of self-service tills, this is an area of licensing law we should look at.'

He observed: 'Alcohol is a regulated product for a reason. The lack of supervision at self-service tills increases the risk that alcohol will be sold to under-age customers and I question whether alcohol should be sold at these tills at all.'

Meanwhile, a report in the Tewkesbury Admag reveals that 18 per cent of shops tested over a two-week period by Trading Standards and Gloucestershire Police sold alcohol to under-age volunteers without asking for proof of age or a valid ID.

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